Vapor chamber and method of manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

A vapor chamber and a method of manufacturing same are disclosed. The vapor chamber includes a main body internally defining a chamber. The chamber internally has a plurality of flow guides and contains a working fluid; and at least one flow passage is formed between any two adjacent flow guides, such that the flow guides and the flow passages together define a flow guiding zone in the main body. The flow guiding zone has two opposite ends respectively connecting with a first convection zone and a second convection zone, such that the flow passages and the first and second convection zones communicate with one another. With the main body and the internal flow passages for a vapor chamber being integrally formed by aluminum extrusion, the time, labor and material costs for the vapor chamber can be largely reduced.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vapor chamber, and more particularlyto a vapor chamber that is integrally formed by aluminum extrusion andaccordingly enables largely reduced material and manufacturing costs.The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing theabove-described vapor chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The currently most popular heat transfer elements include heat pipes,vapor chambers and flat heat pipes, all of them are metal elementsproviding good heat conductivity. The heat pipe is mainly used totransfer heat to a distant location. The heat pipe includes an end, atwhere heat is absorbed to transform a liquid-phase working fluid in theheat pipe into vapor phase to thereby transfer the absorbed heat toanother opposite end of the heat pipe to achieve the purpose oftransferring heat.

The vapor chamber is usually selected for use as a heat transfer elementat a location with a relatively large heat transfer area. The vaporchamber has one side surface in contact with a heat source for absorbingheat, and the absorbed heat is transferred to another opposite sidesurface, from where the heat is dissipated into ambient space and aworking fluid filled therein is condensed.

Conventionally, the vapor chamber is mainly made of a copper material todefine an internal chamber, in which a supporting structure and a wickstructure are provided. The internal chamber of the vapor chamber isthen evacuated and filled with a working fluid before being sealed.Liquid-vapor circulation of the working fluid in the internal chamber ofthe vapor chamber continues to achieve the effect of heat transfer.

The conventional vapor chamber usually includes an upper plate and alower plate that are closed to each other to define the internal chambertherebetween. The supporting structure and the wick structure are mainlyformed by sintering, milling or etching inner surfaces of the upper andlower plates, or providing a mesh-like structure in the internalchamber. All these supporting and wick structures require a lot of timeand labor to form and therefore increase the manufacturing costs of thevapor chamber.

Further, since the conventional vapor chamber is made of a coppermaterial, it has good heat transfer efficiency but requires relativelyhigh material cost. In brief, the conventional vapor chamber has thefollowing disadvantages: (1) requiring high manufacturing costs; and (2)uneasy to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a vapor chamberthat achieves upgraded liquid-vapor circulation therein and requiresonly reduced manufacturing costs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method formanufacturing a vapor chamber at reduced manufacturing cost whileachieving upgraded liquid-vapor circulation in the vapor chamber.

To achieve the above and other objects, the vapor chamber according tothe present invention includes a main body internally defining achamber. The chamber internally has a plurality of flow guides andcontains a working fluid; and at least one flow passage is formedbetween any two adjacent flow guides, such that the flow guides and theflow passages together define a flow guiding zone in the main body. Theflow guiding zone has two opposite ends respectively connecting with afirst convection zone and a second convection zone, such that the flowpassages and the first and second convection zones communicate with oneanother.

To achieve the above and other objects, the vapor chamber manufacturingmethod according to the present invention includes the following steps:integrally forming a main body internally having a plurality of flowpassages by way of aluminum extrusion; machining two ends of the mainbody for the flow passages to communicate with one another; and closingthe two ends of the main body, evacuating the closed main body, andfilling a working fluid into the evacuated main body.

With the vapor chamber of the present invention, it is able to largelyupgrade the liquid-vapor circulation in the vapor chamber andaccordingly, achieve upgraded heat transfer efficiency.

The present invention is characterized by integrally forming the mainbody of the vapor chamber by aluminum extrusion, so that internal flowpassages are simultaneously formed along with the main body to reducethe time, labor and material costs needed to manufacture the vaporchamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vapor chamber according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 a is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 b is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a vapor chamber according to asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a vapor chamber manufacturing method according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the steps included in the vapor chambermanufacturing method according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the steps included in the vapor chambermanufacturing method according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferredembodiments thereof and with reference to the drawings. For the purposeof easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferredembodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a perspective view of a vapor chamberaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention, and to FIGS. 2a and 2 b that are sectional views taken along lines A-A and B-B of FIG.1, respectively. As shown, the vapor chamber according to the presentinvention includes a main body 1.

The main body 1 is integrally formed by way of aluminum extrusion todefine a chamber 11 therein. The chamber 11 internally has a pluralityof flow guides 111 and contains a working fluid 2. At least one flowpassage 112 is formed between two adjacent ones of the flow guides 111,such that the flow guides 111 and the flow passages 112 together definea flow guiding zone 13 in the main body 1. The flow guiding zone 13 hastwo opposite ends respectively connecting with a first convection zone13 and a second convection zone 14, such that the flow passages 112 andthe first and second convection zones 13, 14 communicate with oneanother. The chamber 11 is internally provided on wall surfaces thereofwith at least one type of wick structure 15, which can be any one ofgrooves, a sintered powder layer, or mesh structures. In the illustratedfirst embodiment, the wick structure 15 is configured as a plurality ofgrooves without being limited thereto.

Please refer to FIG. 3 that is a sectional view of a vapor chamberaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown, thesecond embodiment is generally structurally similar to the firstembodiment, except for a pipe 16 that is further provided to communicatewith the chamber 11.

FIG. 4 illustrates a vapor chamber manufacturing method according to afirst embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a flowchartshowing the steps included therein. The vapor chamber manufacturingmethod is now described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 along with FIGS.1 and 2 b.

In a first step S1, a main body internally having a plurality of flowpassages is integrally formed by way of aluminum extrusion.

More specifically, at least one main body 1 for vapor chamber isintegrally formed by way of aluminum extrusion, such that a chamber 11internally having a plurality of flow guides 111 and flow passages 112is defined in the main body 1.

In a second step S2, the main body is machined at two opposite ends forthe flow passages to communicate with one another.

More specifically, two open ends of the aluminum-extruded main body 1are machined, so that the flow guides 111 are partially removed atrespective two ends, allowing the flow passages 112 defined betweenadjacent flow guides 111 to communicate with one another. The main body1 can be machined by way of milling or planning.

And, in a third and final step S3, the two opposite ends of the mainbody are closed, and the closed main body is then evacuated and filledwith a working fluid.

More specifically, the two open ends of the main body 1 are closed, andthe closed main body 1 is evacuated and filled with a working fluid 2.

Please refer to FIG. 6 that is a flowchart showing the steps included ina vapor chamber manufacturing method according to a second embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown, the vapor chamber manufacturing methodin the second embodiment is generally similar to the first embodimentand includes a step S1, in which a main body internally having aplurality of flow passages is integrally formed by way of aluminumextrusion; a step S2, in which the main body is machined at two oppositeends for the flow passages to communicate with one another; and a stepS3, in which the two opposite ends of the main body are closed, and theclosed main body is then evacuated and filled with a working fluid.However, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment inhaving a further step S4, which is performed after the step S1.

In the step S4, at least one type of wick structure is formed on wallsurfaces of the flow passages.

More specifically, at least one type of wick structure 15 is formed onwall surfaces of the flow passages 112 in the main body 1, and the wickstructure 15 can be any one of grooves, a sintered powder layer, andmesh structures.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodimentsthereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in thedescribed embodiments can be carried out without departing from thescope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

1-4. (canceled)
 5. A method of manufacturing vapor chamber, comprisingthe following steps: integrally forming a main body internally having aplurality of flow passages by way of aluminum extrusion; machining twoends of the main body for the flow passages to communicate with oneanother; and closing the two ends of the main body, evacuating theclosed main body, and filling a working fluid into the evacuated mainbody.
 6. The vapor chamber manufacturing method as claimed in claim 5,wherein the main body is machined by a manner selected from the groupconsisting of milling and planning.
 7. The vapor chamber manufacturingmethod as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a step of forming atleast one type of wick structure on wall surfaces of the flow passages,being performed after the step of integrally forming the main bodyinternally having a plurality of flow passages by way of aluminumextrusion.
 8. The vapor chamber manufacturing method as claimed in claim7, wherein the wick structure is selected from the group consisting ofgrooves, a sintered powder layer, and mesh structures.